Mercedes was kind enough to come meet me at the Gatwick airport at midnight, which I am grateful for since I'm sure on my way from the airport to Eastbourne, where she's living, I would have become incredibly and irreversibly lost. That is why maps and friends who know where they are going are my best friends when I travel. Anyway, that night was reserved for sleeping and the next day, we had a relaxed morning and then caught the train to Brighton so she could show me the sights. May I observe here that the train system in England is infinitly more convenient and easier to get to than the train in Spain.
Our first stop was the Royal Pavilion, built for the drinking, womanzing, and gambling Prince of Wales George IV in 1787. He later became the King of England for a short time before his death. The Pavilion itself is a wonderfully fantastic place to walk around since it is heavily influenced by architecture from India, complete with minarets. The inside is decorated far differently from what one would expect from an English building. My favorite part was the dining room where the chandalier consisted of one gigantic dragon carrying the framework in his claws and a few other dragons at a lower tier with the lights in their mouths. Back in the day when the lights were candles, it looked as if the dragons were breathing fire. Awesome!
Afterward, we stopped for lunch at Bill's, which is restaurant in a converted warehouse. Of course I had to be healthy and have pancakes with fruit.......with ice cream and tons of syrup as well. Delicious, if not particularly nutritious. Next was some shopping and exploration of the city, wandering among the streets and shops, eventually making our way to the beach and boardwalk. Sadly we only stayed there a short time, but it was so cold with the wind blowing in off the ocean that my nose went numb. Then it was back to Eastbourne for some fish and chips. Later we met up with some of Mercedes friends who are also studying at Brighton and are in the international program. We sat on the beach for a bit, listening to music and then headed off to find a pub to while away some time.
The next day, it was off to the Isle of Wight via Southampton where we caught a ferry to the island. Given all the connections we had to make between trains, buses, and ferries, we had superb luck and never had to wait more than a half hour for any sort of transportation. Upon arrival to the island, we decided that we should just go visit the Osbourne House before making our way inland to our hotel. So we stopped by the tourist info center to ask where to go, and happened to hear the lady giving directions to other tourists going the same place. It sounded relatively simple so we set off without a map and with her directions firmly in our minds. We took the footbridge (actually another ferry going across a tiny river between cities) over to East Cowes and then started off on foot, Mercedes lugging her bag and me with my backpack. After about 20 minutes of hiking alongside the main road, feeling like hobos or hitchhikers, we were feeling pretty tired and wondering if we'd gotten the directions wrong. Turns out we were only 100 yards away from it! How good is that for a directionally challeneged person like myself? So we spent the afternoon checking out the Osbourne House, residence to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who considered it a summer "cottage." The word cottage does not do the place justice....it is big, but for a royal house, the rooms inside are remarkably small. We saw the house, some of the estate, and the Swiss cottage where the royal children learned to clean, garden, and cook.
The Braunstone Hotel in Newport, where we stayed that night, was a cute little place with gorgeous rooms and a pretty delicious English breakfast (kudos Mercedes!). Being in Newport on a Saturday night, Mercedes and I expected there to be bustling activity, but things were pretty quiet there. We managed to find the oldest pub on the island, where we had greasy pub food for dinner, which was so good, then we walked around a bit, saw the town, and found the movie theater. We ended up seeing X-Men Origins: Wolverine. My first English movie in a theater not dubbed in Spanish since September! Needless to say, I was incredibly excited and it made my night.
Newport
The next day we walked around West Cowes for a bit, then began our trip back to Eastbourne. That night we met up with her friends again for a pub quiz at the local pub. Being internationals, we were at a slight disadvantage, especially when one entire category had to do with British cities. That was a tough round. But we did pretty well. Then that night, I took the train to Gatwick and spent the night there because my flight left early in the am. I'm getting pretty used to staying in airports and killing time, exploring all the different corridors and whatnot. Didn't get any sleep, but eh, didn't really want any. Eventually I made it back to Baeza, ready for another week of school with my crazies.
Speaking of school, it's hard to believe that I only have three weeks left before I'm finished. This past week, my 6th year students asked me if I was coming back next year. To their dismay, I said no, and truthfully, I'm not even tempted to come back next year. It has been a great experience and I love the kids here, but I'm ready for another adventure, another experience, another type of challenge. So now I'm filling out applications for jobs when I return to the States. I forgot how tedious applications are, but I'm making headway. Wish me luck!
As always, here's a link to my facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2052989&id=11400089&l=21a075ad46
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